Heya guys!!  Welcome back to the next segment of Best in Slot Items for Death Knights!!  Today we’re gonna talk about the best Helms for your head slot that you can get for your DK.  For those of you who have been keeping up with the site, I mentioned we’re gonna change how we look at items for ranking.  And this is it.

Items have been broken up into 6 categories depending on your current Hit and Expertise Rating.  Please refer to the Hit and Expertise Revisited post if you have any questions regarding Hit and Expertise caps, their value, and how to get there.

PLEASE read the notes at the bottom of the post.  The notes are important.

Blood - Top 10 Best in Slot Helm

1. Obsidian Greathelm  699.456 APE
2. Spiked Titansteel Helm  611 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  599.408 APE
4. Fire-Scorched Greathelm  570.319 APE
5. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Helmet  529.325 APE
6. Cover of Silence  517.831 APE
7. Blue Aspect Helm  508.288 APE
8. Helm of the Grave  498.183 APE
9. Titan’s Outlook 494.977 APE
10. Armored Titanium Goggles  493.32 APE

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Melee Hit Capped

1. Obsidian Greathelm  699.456 APE
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  541.132 APE
3. Blue Aspect Helm  508.288 APE
4. Spiked Titansteel Helm  508.16 APE
5. Helm of the Grave  498.183 APE 

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Melee Hit and Expertise Capped

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  530.364 APE
2. Spiked Titansteel Helm  508.16 APE
3. Obsidian Greathelm  498.118 APE
4. Blue Aspect Helm  497.52 APE
5. Titan’s Outlook 494.977 APE

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Hit Capped

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  699.606 APE
2. Spiked Titansteel Helm  509 APE
3. Obsidian Greathelm  508.32 APE
4. Blue Aspect Helm  498.215 APE
5. Titan’s Outlook 494.977 APE 

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Hit and Expertise Capped

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  498.2 APE
2. Obsidian Greathelm  498.118 APE
3. Blue Aspect Helm  497.52 APE
4. Titan’s Outlook 494.977 APE
5. Helm of the Grave  487.415 APE 

Frost - Top 10 Best in Slot Helm

1. Obsidian Greathelm  628.951 APE
2. Spiked Titansteel Helm  585.044 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  572.142 APE
4. Fire-Scorched Greathelm  544.789 APE
5. Cover of Silence  518.028 APE
6. Blue Aspect Helm  506.364 APE
7. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Helmet  504.029 APE
8. Helm of the Grave  475.555 APE
9. Titan’s Outlook 457.948 APE
10. Planetary Helm  455.256 APE

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Melee Hit Capped

1. Obsidian Greathelm  628.951 APE
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  528.248 APE
3. Spiked Titansteel Helm  507.584 APE
4. Blue Aspect Helm  503.776 APE
5. Helm of the Grave  475.555 APE 

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Melee Hit and Expertise Capped

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  527.384 APE
2. Spiked Titansteel Helm  507.584 APE
3. Blue Aspect Helm  502.912 APE
4. Obsidian Greathelm  485.366 APE
5. Helm of the Grave  474.691 APE 

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Hit Capped

1. Obsidian Greathelm  628.951 APE
2. Blue Aspect Helm  503.776 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  490.406 APE
4. Helm of the Grave  475.555 APE 
5. Titan’s Outlook  457.948 APE  

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Hit and Expertise Capped

1. Blue Aspect Helm  502.912 APE
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  489.542 APE
3. Obsidian Greathelm  485.366 APE
4. Helm of the Grave  474.691 APE
5. Titan’s Outlook  457.948 APE

 Unholy – Top 10 Best in Slot Helm

1. Obsidian Greathelm  620.049 APE
2. Spiked Titansteel Helm  580.557 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  546.219 APE
4. Fire-Scorched Greathelm  528.798 APE
5. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Helmet  482.994 APE
6. Cover of Silence  480.849 APE
7. Blue Aspect Helm  474.629 APE
8. Helm of the Unsubmissive  457.685 APE
9. Armored Titanium Goggles  444.6 APE
10. Planetary Helm  444.464 APE

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Melee Hit Capped

1. Obsidian Greathelm  620.049 APE
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  493.621 APE
3. Spiked Titansteel Helm  487.737 APE
4. Blue Aspect Helm  472.701 APE
5. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Helmet  438.131 APE 

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Melee Hit and Expertise Capped

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  492.037 APE
2. Spiked Titansteel Helm  487.737 APE
3. Blue Aspect Helm  471.117 APE
4. Obsidian Greathelm  466.068 APE
5. Fire-Scorched Greathelm  437.525 APE 

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Hit Capped

1. Obsidian Greathelm  603.892 APE
2. Blue Aspect Helm   471.117 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  460.893 APE
4. Spiked Titansteel Helm  432.777 APE
5. Hood of the Exodus  424.826 APE  

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Hit and Expertise Capped

1. Blue Aspect Helm  471.117 APE
2. Obsidian Greathelm  466.068 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  460.893 APE
4. Spiked Titansteel Helm  432.777 APE
5. Helm of the Grave  422.604 APE 

Things to remember

1. Please see my “Best in Slot Items” (BISI) page for a comprehensive list of all BISI items.
2. THIS DOES NOT WEIGH SET BONUSES.  I CANNOT STRESS HOW IMPORTANT THAT FACT IS!!!  I have not yet seen a good model for measuring the DPS gain from our T7 set bonuses, however the 4 set bonus is extremely good and will have a significant impact upon our DPS.  If you can attain 4 pieces of T7/T7.5, you should consider giving those items more value.  I do.
3. These items are weighted using a system commonly refered to as APE, or Attack Power Equivalency.  This uses mathematical formulas, and often times simulators, to determine how much each attribute contributes to your dps.  It equates item stat values into a numeric value that equals 1 Attack Power, or 1 AP.
4. APE means exactly what it says, this item has an equivalent value of x AP.  So if it says 1 is 519 APE and 2 is 492 APE, swapping from 2 to 1 would be like gaining 27 Attack Power.
5. Take everything here with a grain of salt.  If you had all of your gear epic’d out from Naxx+, it’s likely your personal stats will skew the results of “best in slot”.  Short of running a simulator, it’s nearly impossible to know what the best stats are for any one character.  APE changes as your stats change.  As one stat goes up, its value to your dps goes down.  Meanwhile other stats’ values will go up in value.  This however is a good baseline, assuming you have the equivalent best in slot items and have kept your stats balanced while gearing out.
6. Keep in mind also, my information could be wrong.  But even if it is, it is most likely the closest source of information to the actual truth about DK APE values.
7. 18 Agi is effectively 1 AP due to the armor gain from Agi (read: Bladed Armor talent).  Also keep in mind that Agi affects only your physical crit, not your spell crit.
8. Some stats can be capped.  You do not want more than you can actually use.  Items with a stat that you’ve exceeded the cap are not worth their “true” value anymore because you’re not getting all of the benefit.
9. 262.32 Hit Rating is equal to 8% Melee Hit (this is the Melee Hit cap).
10. 445.91 Hit Rating is equal to 17% Spell Hit (this is the Spell Hit cap).  The spell hit cap is 288.53 rating or 17% if you have 3/3 Virulence and Misery debuff up.
11. The expertise cap is 123 rating or 15 skill for Blood.  The cap for Unholy/Blood is 172.15 rating or 21 skill.
12. Your stats need to be balanced.  If you pick gear that always has +Strength on them, then you’re going to be screwed. These items are balanced around the concept that you do not overstack certain stats.  Aka, 4% hit and 3000 AP is bad.  But so is 15% hit and 1500 AP.  Sticking with these item lists will usually avoid that however.
13. If you don’t agree you should seriously take a moment to stop and think about what factual data you have to back up that feeling.  Often times the number crunchers out there find things that look wrong to the average person.
14. When gemming gear most of the time you will ignore the slot colors.  Only pay attention to slot colors when trying to meet a metagem requirement if you need to.  Otherwise every gem slot should be either +Strength, +Expertise, or +Hit.  These numbers assume you are using Rare gems available to any player.
15. For more information on the Expertise and Hit caps you should read here: Hit and Expertise Revisited.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: Best in Slot Items